Nomen à clef explained

In romance languages, nomen à clef or nomen à clé (in French pronounced as /nomen‿a kle/, French for "name with a key"), is a name describing a real person, behind a façade of fiction.[1] "Key" in this context means a table one can use to swap out the names. It is the nomenclature complement of the roman à clef.

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=VxFomoeKT74C&dq=film+%C3%A0+clef&pg=PA131 "The films in my life"